Lupus, Humor, and Wellness

Sunday, April 30, 2017

A young and upcoming designer, Christopher, would like to honor his mother and sister, who both battle lupus, by designing a prom dress for one young lady with lupus in the Newark, NJ area. He needs about 3 weeks to take measurements and complete the dress. He also has a makeup designer who would also donate their services to complete the look. The fittings would take place at a store/boutique in Newark. Please RSVP as soon as possible or by the end of next week, May 5, 2017. If you know of someone who would be interested please contact the lupus Lenny at 973.379.3226, or email us at Lenny@lupusnj.org, Topic : Prom Dress.

Please pass this to anyone who you think might be interested. Thank you,

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Flint, Michigan's lead-tainted municipal water is big news. And it should be.
For over a year, government officials knowingly poisoned the people they suppoedly represent by supplying them with lead-contiminated water.

According to moveon.org, "General Motors had announced in October 2014—six months after Flint started getting its water from the Flint River—that it would no longer use the water because it was corroding its equipment. Imagine what it was doing to people's bodies."

That's pretty despicable. Immoral. And, I hope, Illegal.
And I really hope they are rectifying it immediately, by supplying these people with clean water.

As to the future of these citizens, here's where I disagree with the majority of people writing about this.

According to activist and filmmaker Michael Moore,

"The children of Flint, already among the poorest in the United States, will now have to endure a life of pain, irreversible brain damage, and lower IQs because of Gov. Snyder's actions and the ensuing cover-up.

Justice must be served—and other elected officials must be put on notice that people's lives are more important than balancing a budget."

I agree with this statement: Justice must be served.
However, I disagree with the notion that lead poisoning is irreversible.
It is not.

Last century, a number of our military personnel were poisoned with lead when painting battleships (the paint contained lead and they inhaled lead-laden fumes while working).

In the wake of this, modern medicine discovered/ created "chelation therapy," an IV treatment that, at least in adults, is very safe.

I personally have had chelation therapy twice. Twice, meaning 15 treatments in 1994, and 20 or so treatments in 2002. In my case, my system was found (through blood and hair samples) to contain lead and nickel the first time, and arsenic and nickel the second time. These heavy metals were removed from my system via chelation therapy. My kidney function went back to 100%, after I was told they would fail within 5 years.

*Chelation therapy was invented to treat lead poisoning, and it is very effective.*
Children do not have to settle for a lower quality of life because they've been poisoned; this poison can be cleared from their systems.

(Of course, first they need to stop being poisoned by the water they are drinking, cooking, and bathing in).

There are cheaper ways to clear heavy metals from the system, and they do not involve long hours sitting in a chair attached to an IV drip. For example:

I support those activists fighting to get clean water and restitution to these people, but true restitution means getting them their health back. And that can be done.
Look for solutions, always, Do not remain a victim if there is another choice. And in this case there is another choice; lead can be removed from the body.

I do not sell chlorella or chelation therapy and have zero financial interest in Chlorella or chelation therapy. I just fell it's really important to let people know they do have the power to heal, despite what they may be told.

And if we are going to fight for these people, let's go all the way and fight for them to get clean water AND get their healthy children back. And the Governor can pay for these treatments. It really is the least he can do.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Need to see a doctor for something minor (cold, UTI, flu), but you don't want to leave the house? Now you can do that! In fact, you can even do therapy via video conference, without even getting out of your PJs.

How do I know?
I recently realized I need some solid grief support (my father died December 5 and I spent most of his last week on earth with him, helping him through the process of dying). I definitely need more help than I can get
from friends and Facebook (and I don't really want to talk about my grief process on
facebook. Some troll is bound to turn it into a political argument).

I googled and clicked for hours, with no results (other than the suicide hotline), looking for a bereavement group. So I decided to go ahead and look for a professional counselor.

But I just couldn't deal with the idea of setting up an in-person appointment, waiting a month (or longer), driving through godawful New Jersey traffic (in the freezing cold) and sitting in a waiting room with everyone else's germs/ neuroses/ iphones. And then, what if the counselor is a bonehead? I still get charged some huge fee and have to start all over again. What to do?

I was up late (as usual- my insomnia has returned) and saw a commercial for "Doctor on Demand" app. Apparently everyone else already knows about this, because Dr. Phil started it. I thought, "what a great idea! You can just go online and see a live doctor via video conference right away!" (When I watched the Jetsons as a kid, that idea seemed impossible!). So that led me down a rabbit's trail look at various online apps and websites, and I'll share my mini-reviews of each here.

Doctor on Demand: It's an app and a website. Best use: contact an MD, anytime, 24/7, for basic issues like common cold, sinus infection, UTI, etc. and they can even write you a prescription. They also have a small batch of psychologists, but not very many, and the psychologists are NOT on demand 24/7. You have to make an appointment.

My computer is too old to use their website, so i got the app. I set up an appointment with a psychologist but at the time of the appointment, I was never able to connect to her via the app. I spent the entire time on the phone with customer support, troubleshooting, while the psychologist was on the other end twiddling her thumbs (or playing Angry Birds. I don't know. I never got to talk to her). Total fail. So, at the suggestion of tech support, I set up another appointment, with all other apps on my phone closed, on wifi. Again, could not connect, wasting the Dr.'s time and mine. I asked if I could set up a test appointment with tech support to get the app to work, They acted like that was a weird request and as of a week later, they have never got back to me to do so. I wasn't holding my breath. Moving on...

Bottom line: don't use Doctor on Demand for a psychologist- it's not their strength. And I'm not impressed with their customer support. I hear it's very helpful if you have a non-crisis medical issue, such as a UTI, the flu, a cold. You'll save yourself a trip, a wait, and some money. You can find a coupon code for a free first visit, if you google around for one. The one on the TV commercial was "EASY."

Talk space: This is specifically psychological help. App where you message back and forth for a weekly fee (unlimited, but you have to wait for a reply- could take hours). Once I realized it was just basically texting, but with long delays, I realized this is not what I wanted or needed at this time. I need a higher level of support right now.Bottom line: definitely not useful for a crisis. And no video/ faces.

Betterhelp: website and app. Again, it's just messaging. They do specifically match you with a counselor based on your answers to a questionnaire, so I like that feature. I may go back to this, as they found me someone who's into using creativity as a tool for working through stuff. But having to wait a long time to get a response, and sometimes a very short response, is disappointing, esp. considering the fee. (weekly rate). They do have a free 7-day trial period, so you can try it out. But you have to enter a credit card to do the 7-day trial, so you'll probably have to make sure you cancel before those 7 day are up, if you do not wish to continue.

Bottom line: This one is a maybe, but not for someone who needs a lot of support.

Breakthrough: website and app. This one, I like. Like Doctor on Demand, you do a video session via the app (feels like skype or facetime). However, unlike Doctor on Demand, they were very helpful and fast about doing a test appointment with tech support beforehand, and it worked on the first try. They also have a LOT of counselors to choose from. I just had my free 15-minute consult (not all of the counselors offer that) and found someone I like and feel good about.

Bottom line: Easy to use, lots of professional to choose from, the most like normal counseling, but without the commute. The fees are per hour as opposed to a subscription. Probably covered by insurance.

It was an aggravating week trying to find help, but i finally did.
Never give up!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

I've mentioned this before. I am a recovering Crapatarian.
I grew up hating food, unless it was junk (salt, sugar, fizz).

I've been working on breaking the junk food habit, along with the "foods I'm allergic to" habit for my entire adult life.

I have tried every kind of diet: candida diet, gluten-free, raw foods, calorie counting. Some of them worked, but I never lasted very long on any of them. I have finally found a system that helps me keep my eating clean. And it has had a HUGE impact on my well-being. I didn't want to mention it until I'd actually managed to stick with it. I've been on this plan since last September, and I couldn't be more pleased with it.

I feel great, and I look great (if I do say so myself!). I'm off the pain meds! I'm on zero immune suppressants. And I am in remission. I've had 3 very serious flares (strokes, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, anemia, pleurisy, extreme weight loss- and then of course the extreme prednisone weight gain!), so I hesitate to say I'm "cured." Because frankly, all I have to do is start eating junk food and foods I'm allergic to and I'll get sick again.

I wanted to share some pictures of me last year and this year. I've received so many compliments lately that I had to go back and see for myself what I looked like a year ago. Hair, skin, eyes- not to mention 15 pounds lighter - with no exercise! (I did start exercising after I dropped the weight, because I finally had the energy).

It's possible to kick old habits! It's possible to get better! It's possible to feel great again. I still have a couple things to work out (I take sleep meds and they cause memory problems, and I have ADD- but those are old problems, and I will tackle them next!)... but I feel like I finally have my life back!
Carla
PS If you're interested in the nutrition plan, let me know. E mail me at carlau@comcast.net !

About Me

"Lupus and Humor" is a blog by Carla Ulbrich (The Singing Patient). The purpose of the blog is to help others live healthier, happier lives by sharing what has helped/ not helped in Carla's 20+ years of having lupus (SLE).
Humor has been one of the things that has consistently been helpful, and is incorporated fairly regularly into the posts.